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Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

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Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#11

Post by parpfish »

CooCooCaCha wrote: post #7
parpfish wrote: post #4

You should also know that it can take a LONG time to fully recover. I got burnt out 3-4 years ago and am only now feeling like I’m coming back to normal. Maybe if I took a more intentional path to recovery I’d be back earlier, but it’s not like the kind of thing where you can take a couple weeks PTO and expect it to clear up

Did you take a break from working or did you find a way to recover and work?

Month off and then to a new job that was arguably even worse. Only stayed there a year, but my new gig is good

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#12

Post by blueyes »

I got super burned out working in startups for about 8 years. didn't realize it on the inside. now that i'm out, i look back and realize i was in a constant state of stress and anxiety. i got my sleep back, started exercising, started doing ice plunge/sauna, cut stress, limited exposure to stupid messaging streams like slack. it's a new world. i had to remake myself chemically in tiny steps and it took about two solid years to do it.

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#15

Post by primitivesuave »

I burned out around 3 years ago and couldn't fix it with a year of traveling the world and working on side projects - thankfully I discovered Vipassana meditation which helped me bounce back stronger than ever. Hopefully someone else in a similar situation might find this potential solution useful.

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#17

Post by parpfish »

jpm_sd wrote: post #10
CooCooCaCha wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you take a break from working or did you find a way to recover and work?

Getting a new job at a big, slow moving company can be a good way to recover while not becoming destitute

For me, the big slow moving org CAUSED the burnout

Burnout isn’t always about overwork. There are several different typologies and mine was more related to a lack of control/pointlessness that led to a very extreme form of ennui. The end result was the same with depression, anhedonia, and cynicism.

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#19

Post by XorNot »

dgllghr wrote: post #13

This is a psychological issue, but everything psychological is also physical. It’s all one interconnected system. So please see a doctor and have your bloodwork done. Doing that was the first step to escaping my burnout. I wish I had done it sooner.

I would somewhat caution against this: you're much more likely to get told everything is fine, then be told it's not. And even if you're told it's not, it may not solve any problems: I lost a bunch of weight, got fitter, and deflected myself (so far) off a path to adult-onset diabetes...hasn't helped the burn out at all.

These are all good things to have done, but the secret hope of everyone once they walk into the doctor's office is to get told "take this drug and you'll be back to feeling like you're 24 and just graduated college".

Re: Tell HN: Burnout is bad to your brain, take care

#20

Post by patrickhogan1 »

Interestingly, while chronic sleep deprivation is harmful, studies show that a single night of sleep deprivation can have a rapid, temporary antidepressant effect in 40-60% of people with depression. I tried this after burning out on my third startup, and it helped me short-term when I needed it most. You can read more about the research Penn Medicine (https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/septemb...).
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